Voyager of the Seas Reviews from a Brit Perspective

[P&OMAN]

After having been on three RCI Cruises before (Jewel, Serenade and Rhapsody) I was really looking forward to my fourth on the Voyager sailing from Fremantle to Sydney via New Zealand.

 

As we were expecting lots of good stops and scenic cruising we booked a balcony cabin. I think this ship was the biggest cruise liner to call at Fremantle. We got through check in well because we were Platinum members , others were not so lucky. However all Aussie staff there to help did a good smiley job. What none of us knew was that the ship was suffering from an extended norovirus outbreak.

 

The ship was going through a cleansing process which prevented anyone getting into their cabin until after 4pm. even then nobody had towels and it was obvious that no hoovering had been carried out. The first impression of the ship was that it was old and tired. Our balcony was a bit like a coffin, a hole had been cut out of the ship giving the look of a gap in the side superstructure. No glass involved, very dreary. When towels arrived the glasses were missing in the bathroom being replaced by cardboard cups. There were no quality toiletries, shampoo, hair conditioner or hand/body lotion. All we had were bars of soap and a dubious dispenser inside the shower.

 

We were told many crew had been left at Singapore because of the sickness, new staff to replace (it showed). However the staff all worked hard and were eager to please. Throughout the cruise the food was not up to standard, could only be described as ordinary and bland. I think this was the only cruise that I have never really looked forward to dining. Good food is one of the cornerstones of cruising, I am sorry to say they failed badly.

 

On the first day we bought a wine package as always. Shortly to find out that some of the wine promised was not available. After some discussion other wines were produced to replace, but without complaining I am sure this would not have happened.The entertainment director Gordon was great, but most of the guest entertainers were dire. The resident band was good, the resident singers and dancers were average. At various stages of the cruise they ran out of English Breakfast tea and vanilla ice cream, how do you manage that ?

 

The ports of call were very good, Adelaide, Melbourne, Hobart, Dunedin, Picton, Wellington and ending at Sydney. As always you were pushed towards the ships excursions. In particular at Adelaide trips were $55 to get into Glenelg, a pretty seaside town, heavily promoted. However thanks to the Aussies onboard we were told to walk the 100yards to the train station a day train/tram ticket was $9.10 (Aussie dollars). Strange how they never mentioned that.

 

Thankfully we did not catch the virus, though many did even up until the last day. I am sure that if this had been my first RCI cruise it would probably have been my last. This ship was just not up to the standard expected of a 4* ship. Thanks to friends and hard working staff we enjoyed our cruise but with some strong reservations.

 

We were also on this cruise , and agree with all of the above review. No kettle or cups and saucers in the cabin until a few days before docked in Sydney. The ice rink was rarely available for use and the promenade cafe was inadequate for the number of people on board. Staff on the customer and excursion desks did not know much about anything and often gave conflicting advice. This was our first RCL cruise and did not compare favourably with other cruise lines we have been on.

 

You, and anyone who cruises with this ship, have my sympathies, as I know only too well what a disappointment this ship was. I agree with all the above with the exception that after our experience cruising from China to Singapore in October, this is most definately the last time I shall sail with RCI.....it was a rip-off to say the least......disgusting in fact.

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[pattle66]

Thank you for your review. I wanted to book Voyager this year but we preferred the itinery on Radiance. I'm even happier with our decision now.

[Royalty X]

Hi P&OMAN, like I said in your other post, I'm a little confused! First you said this...

Originally Posted by P&OMAN

 

After having been on three RCI Cruises before (Jewel, Serenade and Rhapsody) I was really looking forward to my fourth on the Voyager sailing from Fremantle to Sydney via New Zealand.

 

Then you said this...

Originally Posted by P&OMAN

 

This was our first RCL cruise and did not compare favourably with other cruise lines we have been on.

 

You, and anyone who cruises with this ship, have my sympathies, as I know only too well what a disappointment this ship was. I agree with all the above with the exception that after our experience cruising from China to Singapore in October, this is most definately the last time I shall sail with RCI.....it was a rip-off to say the least......disgusting in fact.

Have I missed something...? Is it your first or fourth RCI cruise?

[P&OMAN]

I too was on this cruise and agree with most of the comments especially regarding the quality of food available.

 

The reviews that I have put on here are not mine but an extract of fellow Brits opinions that I came across.

[bazzaw]

We have had 12 cruises since 2007. Personally, I now ignore ALL reports/reviews (good or bad) of ships and individual cruises UNLESS I personally know the reporter and know the level of their cruising experience.

 

I try not to take any expectations onboard with me at all - if I expect nothing, then I cannot be disappointed but I might be pleasantly surprised. We never know what may happen when we go on a holiday - will it rain every day in the UK if I go there (we have been there 7 times and never had rain sufficiently bad to interfere with our enjoyment :D). Will the food be "not up to standard" on our next cruise? (What exactly is "standard"? ). etc.

 

I even treat reports by friends with some caution. Friends have been on 3 cruises in the last 5 years - the first was on Superstar Something (Leo??) when it cruised in Oz waters during the Asian SARS crisis. They LOVED IT!! Then they went on a Diamond Princess cruise - they HATED it. Now they have just returned from a Sun Princess cruise and they LOVED it. When I try to get out of them what was wrong with Diamond Princess, all they can say is that they didn't like the food . When I ask them what was wrong with it, all they can say is that it was "too American" :D What the hell does that mean??? Even they can't say :confused:

 

Barry

[room010]

I too was on this cruise and agree with most of the comments especially regarding the quality of food available.

 

The reviews that I have put on here are not mine but an extract of fellow Brits opinions that I came across.

 

Well you don't explain that in your original post, hence the confusion :rolleyes:

[6andy6]

 

. Will the food be "not up to standard" on our next cruise? (What exactly is "standard"? ). etc.

Agree with this comment. When someone says not 'up to standard' I think to myself 'you must be a superwhiz in the kitchen if you have and eat 5 star meals at home'. Unless its dog food or fried lizards kidneys someone else cooking unless they make a total balls up cannot be that bad. It's just that your tastes (seasonings or spicyness) may be differentt...doesn't mean the food is bad.

 

. When I try to get out of them what was wrong with Diamond Princess, all they can say is that When I ask them what was wrong with it, all they can say is that it was "too American" :D What the hell does that mean??? Even they can't say :confused:

 

If they cannot put their finger on what was wrong then what hope does the cruise line have of correcting it or presenting/preparing something more suitable/inline with their tastes. :confused: :mad:

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the review!

[joejoe 59]

We have had 12 cruises since 2007. Personally, I now ignore ALL reports/reviews (good or bad) of ships and individual cruises UNLESS I personally know the reporter and know the level of their cruising experience.

 

I try not to take any expectations onboard with me at all - if I expect nothing, then I cannot be disappointed but I might be pleasantly surprised. We never know what may happen when we go on a holiday - will it rain every day in the UK if I go there (we have been there 7 times and never had rain sufficiently bad to interfere with our enjoyment :D). Will the food be "not up to standard" on our next cruise? (What exactly is "standard"? ). etc.

 

I even treat reports by friends with some caution. Friends have been on 3 cruises in the last 5 years - the first was on Superstar Something (Leo??) when it cruised in Oz waters during the Asian SARS crisis. They LOVED IT!! Then they went on a Diamond Princess cruise - they HATED it. Now they have just returned from a Sun Princess cruise and they LOVED it. When I try to get out of them what was wrong with Diamond Princess, all they can say is that they didn't like the food . When I ask them what was wrong with it, all they can say is that it was "too American" :D What the hell does that mean??? Even they can't say :confused:

 

Barry

 

Well said Barry. I too go with an open mind. Iv heard people complain RCL only serve 3 courses at dinner, well most of us only eat one at home so go figure. As for toiletry cut backs all cruise lines have cut back, & i still prefer my own anyway. I had a friend that did a cruise who said it was boring, like what the:confused:

[Guest012]

Ron is the original posters review/comments here on CC....

we too were onboard and by the end of the cruise were quite disappointed with, not the ship although we found her too big for our liking, but the standard of product they delivered on this cruise.

We had a b2b on the Mariner of the Seas from Barcelona to Singapore May 2013 booked but have cancelled the second part.....we asked ourselves if the product is the same as what we have just experienced would we be happy to spend 27 days onboard, the answer was NO, so we have kept the 15 day Barcelona to Dubai sector with fingers crossed that we get the real product:rolleyes: then fly from Dubai to Singapore to join the Dawn Princess cruise back to Perth :cool:

RCCL sent the good old "we want to know what you think questionnaire" email so i replied honestly....;) ... Totally agree about the onboard entertainment namely the guest artists which were average with a few so bad I was embarrassed that they tipped themselves as being some of the best in Australia...:eek:..Jonathan Clarke always delivers the goods he was great....:D cheers Shiona

[The_Big_M]

A number of the comments referred to the food, and that has been a weakness with RCL for some time in my experience.

 

There was also reference to tea and ice cream running out. I've heard of alcohol running out before, and experienced Rhapsody running out of a number of food items so that towards the end meals were being made with the same ingredient as that was all they had left, and most of the cereals had run out as well.

 

Also the comment about no separate toiletries has been the case with RCL for some time, that you only have the wall dispenser for product, plus soap.

[NSWP]

I have never travelled with RCI, but one wonders if VOS standards have dropped because she is now operating in this Region. It is a well known fact and experienced by me several times that the 'Australian Princess Ships', Dawn/Sun/Sea Princess are not to the standard of the 'American Princess ships on many points, including food, service, entertainment.

 

Dare I suggest that RCI and VOS have been downgraded over here, again, because the Aussies 'No complain. Well they do, as the Brits have done here.

[Sutho]

I have never travelled with RCI, but one wonders if VOS standards have dropped because she is now operating in this Region. It is a well known fact and experienced by me several times that the 'Australian Princess Ships', Dawn/Sun/Sea Princess are not to the standard of the 'American Princess ships on many points, including food, service, entertainment.

 

Dare I suggest that RCI and VOS have been downgraded over here, again, because the Aussies 'No complain. Well they do, as the Brits have done here.

 

I think that is why we have Sun, Dawn and Sea Princess here because they are no longer brand new wonders that appeal to the US market that keeps getting brand new ships each year. Sure they are nice ships but they are not the type of ship I would choose to do a longer voyage on. I am perfectly happy on them for short trips. I noticed that they were never like the Sapphire Princess when I cruised on it. My Grandparents do Princess regularly and have stated that those ships are not at the standard the US ones are at. Suprisingly Oceana (the Ocean Princess and 4th of the Sun class) is still popular with P&O UK.

 

As for Voyager of the Seas I would be tempted to give it a try. I would not read any reviews of it and if I had the time I would go on it for sure. I had a posative experience with Radiance of the Seas and found Royal Caribbean a worthy cruise line to consider again.

 

If the product has been dumbed down lets hope it is just the initial problems of relocating and getting used to a new market

[bazzaw]

Les

 

There is an old saying - if something can either be a conspiracy or a cockup, it will always be the cockup!! I find it therefore hard to believe that sub-standard operations in our waters is a result of a conspiracy, therefore it must be a cockup. :) There is quite a bit of logistics operating a ship in far distant waters - and VOS was transiting halfway around the World to get here . Obviously RCI have a logistics unit set up in Australia for operations in LOCAL waters, but VOS was transiting until she arrived in Sydney. I wonder if they just did not/do not have the logistics set up for basically what was "an around the World" operation to get here..

 

Barry

[Guest012]

She's being operating cruises out of Asia since she arrived mid 2012...... isn't that long enough to get your act together..........

[bazzaw]

She's being operating cruises out of Asia since she arrived mid 2012...... isn't that long enough to get your act together..........

 

Hmm-- maybe not. :)

 

Barry

[coastiedee]

Thanks for the review P&O man, I like to hear about the Good, the Bad and the Ugly and then I decide for myself :)

[NSWP]

Les

 

There is an old saying - if something can either be a conspiracy or a cockup, it will always be the cockup!! I find it therefore hard to believe that sub-standard operations in our waters is a result of a conspiracy, therefore it must be a cockup. :) There is quite a bit of logistics operating a ship in far distant waters - and VOS was transiting halfway around the World to get here . Obviously RCI have a logistics unit set up in Australia for operations in LOCAL waters, but VOS was transiting until she arrived in Sydney. I wonder if they just did not/do not have the logistics set up for basically what was "an around the World" operation to get here..

 

Barry

Maybe VOS has been already 'Australianised' like Carnival Spirit and the three Princess sisters here. God forbid.

[fishtaco]

Too much of a good thing isnt always good!

 

Sometime you need a change of vacation choice to appreciate the last choice!

 

It may just be that too many cruises may dull the senses?

 

With the amount of cruises some have done over the pat few years most would think there must be plenty of mega rich people on these boards.

 

I have only done 6 cruises so far and tend to be critical about things that wouldnt have bothered me on my first or second.

 

I am just happy to have more "Home choice" in ships/lines and a cheaper price!

 

My upcomming VOS cruise is a lot cheaper per night than any other i have done and it leaves from my home port which is a plus because no airfares to the ship.

 

I would even Jump at the Paciffic Sun if it was leaving from Freo:D

 

 

Den

[nenasmum]

I'll be interested to read further reviews of VOS. My aunt is on it now as a first time cruiser and she has been complaining about queues and crowds a lot- including long queues for the Windjammer and designated times for the Ice show.

This has not been our experience on other Voyager class ships as well as on other larger ships like the Independence of the Seas and the Oasis. I am bemused as to why overcrowding seems to have suddenly become an issue. It is not as if the ship is even as full as it will get at holiday time when families fill up the 3rd and 4th berths.

We have only ever done one cruise- Dawn Princess- from Australia and really noticed the lower standard compared to the US and European cruises we have done.

We will stick to the US and Europe for our cruises in the forseeable future, I think. After cruising on ships less than 2 years old for the last few years it is hard to go back to the older style. Celebrity Reflection here we come next year!!!

[Royalty X]

I'll be interested to read further reviews of VOS. My aunt is on it now as a first time cruiser and she has been complaining about queues and crowds a lot- including long queues for the Windjammer and designated times for the Ice show.

This has not been our experience on other Voyager class ships as well as on other larger ships like the Independence of the Seas and the Oasis. I am bemused as to why overcrowding seems to have suddenly become an issue. It is not as if the ship is even as full as it will get at holiday time when families fill up the 3rd and 4th berths.

Like you said, with it being your aunt's first cruise, the queues might not be any bigger than any of the other Voyager or Oasis class ships (or longer than usual for Voyager herself), it might just be your aunt's perception that there's big crowds, etc. That being said, you can take what she says with a grain of salt. ;)

[bazzaw]

 

Food seems to be one of the issues mostly complained about.

Sometimes I think people complain the food is boring because they don't try enough variety or too much variety but not spread throughout different meals, smorgasboards especially can quickly become dull if you have a little of everything every meal.

 

I found this out once at a resort holiday & when I then restricted myself to chinese one night, salad for lunch, Italian the next night etc the food became interesting again.:)

 

On our QV cruise in the Baltic, they put out a large range of pickled herrings at breakfast time - about 5 different varieties plus smoked and peppered mackerel. I was in Heaven for every breakfast of those 14 days. I love herrings (pickled, fresh or smoked as kippers) - but good quality is hard to come by here in Oz and expensive . Most people onboard (mainly Poms and other Aussies ) looked on in horror :) - as they dived into their breakfast cereal and English sausages,etc. !! :)

 

Barry

[NSWP]

On our QV cruise in the Baltic, they put out a large range of pickled herrings at breakfast time - about 5 different varieties plus smoked and peppered mackerel. I was in Heaven for every breakfast of those 14 days. I love herrings (pickled, fresh or smoked as kippers) - but good quality is hard to come by here in Oz and expensive . Most people onboard (mainly Poms and other Aussies ) looked on in horror :) - as they dived into their breakfast cereal and English sausages,etc. !! :)

 

Barry

Good one Barry, yes I got stuck into the Kippers for breakfast on Arcadia a few mornings, lubberly jubberly. Had the black pudding, snags, bacon, hash browns and Omelette with them but, I am a growing boy like you LOL. Nothing like a full English Breakfast including ye olde kippers.

 

I had to eat the cooked brekkie every day for 49 days as they had no gluten free cereals on board.

[nenasmum]

Like you said, with it being your aunt's first cruise, the queues might not be any bigger than any of the other Voyager or Oasis class ships (or longer than usual for Voyager herself), it might just be your aunt's perception that there's big crowds, etc. That being said, you can take what she says with a grain of salt. ;)

 

The thing is I can't remember a queue that stretched outside the dining romm- which is what she is reporting- on any of our RCL cruises - maybe we were just lucky.

And as far as the Ice Shows go on the Navigator- same sized ship- in October- we could just turn up at any session of any of the shows we liked. It seems from my Aunts comments- though I am not sure yet- that there is only one show in 14 days and that everyone is allocated a time. On all other cruises with ice shows we have had 2 seperate shows. You had to book ahead for Oasis, as with all of its shows and get tickets for the Independence but on Navigator it was just turn up. Jennie

[nenasmum]

Another update from my Aunt. Guess tickets would have been a better option. Apparently there was one big group who have been conspicuous in their {bad] behaviour throughout the cruise. At the ice show my aunt attended they were "minding" 26 seats- she counted. Of course it is not allowed, but that sort of behaviour needs to be dealt with by the staff. Other passengers pay for their passage too!! Jennie